Hambis ‘could not have shot Fanieros’

THE ELDEST of three Aeroporos brothers charged with the attempted murder of Antonis Fanieros was in no fit state to use a gun at the time of the attack, the Nicosia Assizes heard yesterday.

The testimony of surgeon Alkiviades Alkiviadous would appear to clear Hambis Aeroporos of direct involvement in the May 29 machine-gun attack, but also corroborates the testimony of chief prosecution witness Tassos Simellides.

Simellides, 28, has claimed Hambis wanted to shoot Fanieros, 57, himself – because he believed he had ordered a gun attack which nearly killed him in 1995 – but was forced to let his younger brother Panicos do the job because of his injuries.

Alkiviadous, who was monitoring Hambis’s progress following the attempt on his life, said his patient could not have used a gun at the time of the hit on Fanieros in Larnaca.

Father-of-three Simellides, who is serving a nine-year sentence for acting as get-away driver for the May attack, has said Hambis, 35, and his brother Andros, 30, planned the attack while their younger brother Panicos, 25, pulled the trigger.

The three brothers deny charges of attempted murder.

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